


Hope's Expectations

by LivingStoryWriter



Series: Types of Hope [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Anxiety Disorder, Depression, F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Healing, Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, In Game, M/M, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Self-Acceptance, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Indulgent, Speech Disorders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LivingStoryWriter/pseuds/LivingStoryWriter
Summary: "Is living up to expectations really that important if you can't live for yourself too?"Takes place in game with eventual Naegi/Reader. Gender Neutral reader.
Relationships: Asahina Aoi/Ogami Sakura, Celestia Ludenberg/Money, Fukawa Toko/Genocider Syo | Genocide Jack/Togami Byakuya, Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo, Naegi Makoto/Original Character(s), Naegi Makoto/Reader, Princess Buuko | Princess Piggles/Yamada Hifumi, that last one is one sided
Series: Types of Hope [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1675162
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	1. Prologue

Born of the sole intention of raising a prodigy and savant, there was no story of love or a passion filled night with your parents. Why would there have to be when a politician and her public relations manager could just pay to have a child conceived via in vitro and born by a surrogate? It was so much less complicated that way. There was no need for your mother to take a break from her political career and no chance of growing messy emotional attachments while pregnant. You weren’t a child for loving after all. You were for molding and grooming to become the Ultimate Public Speaker. 

Such expectations being placed children wasn’t actually all that an uncommon occurrence in a society that put such value in having a talent. But some cases, like yours, were more extreme than others. From the moment you were born, you were surrounded with lectures on politics and persuasion. Audio books of biographies on historical leaders stood in for bedtime stories. The closest things you’d ever received to love and encouragement were clips of inspirational speeches. And why would you have ever needed a warm embrace when your parents could just as easily keep you dressed in stuffy formal wear? 

Every minute of every day was dedicated to developing your talent. More money than any taxpayer would have ever guessed was funneled and poured into your future. So, just imagine your parents utter disappointment when you turned out not only to have a stutter and lisp but, selective mutism as well. Despite your best efforts, the cold and disgusted looks they gave you never seemed to be enough to motivate your ability to speak. Not even when they became livid, screamed, and called you every name in the book did you ever manage to live up to their expectations.

**_Ultimate brat! Ultimate ingrate! Ultimate waste of space! Ultimate failure! ULTIMATE MISTAKE!_ **

You’d never truly understood what it all meant at the time but, even at three-years-old, you knew it was your fault that you were being yelled at. And, no matter how much you cried, apologized, and tried to do what was being demanded of you, it never seemed to make any difference. Nothing you did was ever good enough and, as the years passed, it became clear that nothing you ever did would be. It wasn’t until the birth of your brother that your parents fully gave up on you. 

What used to be angry words and livid stares suddenly turned into cold shoulders and complete isolation. You doubled down on your efforts to please; forcing out strained, messy stutters to try to garner any sort of attention. But nothing seemed to stop five-year-old you from becoming more and more invisible to the few constants in your life.

“P-p-p-p-pleeeeathh mm-mmmm-m-mmaa-mmmmammma!” you choked and hiccuped out, barely able to get your voice above a whimper as hot tears streamed down your face. “Ah-ah-ah-I th-th-thhhhyy ha-h-harrrrrr-th-th-thhheeerrr p-papaaaaaa!”

It was like they couldn’t hear or see you though. Social events, which you’d once been expected to attend all of, soon became nights of being hoisted off on your mother’s different underlings who were generally too busy with other responsibilities to pay you much mind, not your parents cared much either way. Your new brother had quickly become their world while you were tossed aside and forgotten like an old toy. 

Lacking anyone to turn to, you had no idea how to cope with this new, unwanted role in life, wordless tantrums and acting out soon became the norm. Though, with no vested interest in your happiness or well-being, your parents were quick to send you off to a reformatory school, renown for not only its results but also its less than desirable methods.

Corporal punishment and long bouts of solitary confinement became the norm whenever you acted out. And, on the days that you were well behaved enough to not be the victim of such punishments, cruel words and physical torment from your peers awaited you. Being unable to speak up for yourself and lacking any prior experience with anyone around your own age, you quickly became the target of bullying. Just like at home, there was no winning no matter what you did.

Returning home each summer, you did your best to stay on your best behavior with the hope that maybe this would be the year that your parents might allow you to enroll in a different school if you were good enough. Though, as you entered your early teens, you slowly came to the realization that there was no escaping being sent back once the school year started back up. With you away from home and out of the way, your parents were completely free to devote their time to your ever improving brother and had no worry of you getting in the way or tainting his perfection.

With nothing but a bed and homework supplies available to you; you soon began occupying your summers and any free time with lonely, escape driven naps and finding yourself uninhibited by your difficulties with speech and all too eager to escape reality even while awake, you began using old notebooks to keep dream journals.

Page after page, you filled the notebooks with vivid depictions of your dreams, expanding on and revisiting their worlds to your heart’s content. You hadn’t thought much of the activity until a mandatory room search was conducted at school that anyone even knew of your pastime. Called to the the principal’s office, you sat in silence, terrified that you were about to lose access to your one pleasure in life as the man in front of you scoured through countless pages of your safe haven.

Finally looking up with a stone cold expression, the principal stared at you in silence. You looked back, scared to break eye contact or move wrong. What felt like hours passed before he finally opened his mouth to speak. “You wrote all of this?”

Timid and hesitant, you gave a small nod as you lower lip quivered at the thoughts of what punishments could possibly await you. The principal’s expression was unreadable and, while he didn’t appear particularly angry, the uncertainty of the situation scared you more than anything. You’d never meant anything wrong by recording your dreams. You’d never even thought anyone would even care what you dreamed about. If your parents had managed to succeed at anything with you, it was drilling into your head that you were absolutely worthless. So why wouldn’t that apply to your dreams as well?

Letting out an indignant huff, the principal stared at you with a dubious gleam in his eyes as he pulled out a pencil and piece of paper. “Prove it,” he said as he slid the supplies towards you and trained a scrutinous glare at you . “Write something here.”

Taken aback, you stared at the man with uncertainty. What was he trying at and what end game could he possibly possess with such a demand? Was it just some sort of elaborate scheme to further torture or humiliate you with? Afraid to invoke any further wrath though, you shakily took the pencil and scooted forward to write.

Trembling under the principal’s unwavering stare, you did your best to think back on the previous night. It’d been a nice dream, you recalled. Peaceful and serene, a place you could do anything you wanted and not be in fear of being reprimanded or punished. A world where you could find people who genuinely cared for you and wanted to see you be happy if even just for a second. Tears welling in your eyes, you found the words you wished you could speak and feel flowing onto the paper in front of you. One by one, you recorded the small moments of that world that you wished you could experience in real life. The emotion you’d felt and longed to be allowed to you in reality. 

Before you knew it, you were out of writing space and the paper was being snatched away from you. Startled, you looked up and found the principal meticulously pouring over the piece of paper. Engrossed in the writing, he almost seemed to forget you were there, only acknowledging you again to order you to wait with the secretary in the office outside. It wasn't much later that you found yourself being whisked off by another teacher and taken to wait in a classroom. Hours passed, you being allowed to do nothing more than sit at a desk, confused and terrified to what could possibly be going on as the only other soul in the room shot the occasional glare at you while working through papers that needed to be given the subpar, if not flat out failing, grades they’d inevitably earn.

Finally, long after it’d become dark outside and you’d more than given up on the concept of getting dinner that night if your nerves would even allow you to keep something down, the door to the classroom swung open. Daring to look over, you were met with the shocking sight of your parents. A new sense of fear filled you, one that put any previous fear you’d felt that day to shame. Had you really screwed up so badly to have you mother and father, who usually wouldn’t have cared if you’d come to disappear completely, to come in? Truly, death would’ve been a better fate than whatever awaited you with them.

Had you been able to comprehend the expressions on their faces, you might have been surprised to see something other than utter disgust and disdain being directed at you. Where scowls and contempt usually resided, smug smirks sat. Striding over to you, your father clutched onto your arm and uttered something you never could’ve expected.

“Come on then,” he said, his tone sickly sweet. “You’re coming home, sweetie.”

Blinking, your brows furrowed at the words as you looked up and tried to gauge if your father was being serious. He wasn’t one to joke nor was he, despite the painfully tight grip he had on you, one to be this patient with you. As you caught sight of his eyes, you found something new in them. He’d held many emotions in his eyes towards you over the years. Anger… hate… disappointment… and, most commonly, disgust. But now… he seemed to be looking at you with a sense of ownership, as though he’d actually be willing to claim you as his own without a second thought.

It was a strange feeling. It still wasn’t anything close to love or even care but… it was the closest thing to pride he’d ever shown towards you. And that was more than you’d ever thought you’d get from him. So, shocked and eager to keep such a gaze from him, you quickly stood up and did your best to keep up with his quick pace as he roughly pulled you along. Reaching your mother, she stopped him and harshly grabbed your face.

“Mm, you look so malnourished darling,” she cooed as she inspected you. “We’ll stop for food on the way.”

Blinking, you looked on in shell-shocked confusion as she tightly latched onto your other arm, perfectly manicured nails carelessly digging in. As suddenly as they appeared, you found them dragging you towards their car, paying little mind to how you tripped and stumbled to keep up along the way. You weren’t even given time to grab your belongings before being thrown into the back seat and raced away from the school, learning of just what all had transpired while you’d been secluded in the classroom.

The principal had apparently been both shocked and delighted by your writing, raving that it was unlike anything he’d ever read before and had to be the most drastic turn around he’d ever witnessed within a student. Having brought up that this was something he could see leading to definite opportunities down the line, he’d already sent word and some scans your work off to an associate of his with ties to the illustrious Hope’s Peak Academy, the principal had insisted your parents come pick you up to prepare for an interview of sorts.

“To think,” your mother said with the same smile she wore when schmoozing with potential investors. “You’d be hiding such a  **_talent_ ** within that meek demeanor of yours.”

“I knew it all along!” your father laughed smugly. “That’s why we were always so tough on you, you know. You just needed the right push to channel the untapped potential into something worthwhile.”

On and on, they continued singing your praises the entire way home as you sat, enamored by it all. As soon as you’d made it into the city limits, you were quickly hurried to the best salon around. Waited and doted upon, primped and made over to your parent’s exact instructions. And, once home, your father quickly went to work with his team to figure out the best angle for you to be presented as at your interview. Ripping through the notebooks obtained from your room, your potential title was soon revealed to be The Ultimate Dreamer.

“Dreams bring people  **_hope_ ** ,” your father explained, preparing you for the contingency of all this attention. “You want to bring others hope don’t you?”

You weren’t sure about bringing hope to others but you were certainly desperate to keep the hope that this situation was bringing you. For the first time in your life, you were finally being seen and not despised for it. Even if you didn’t necessarily have the feelings of comfort and safety that the love in your dreams offered, it was so much more than you’d ever imagined having in real life. And, as long as you could continue giving your parents what they wanted, it would stay that way.

So, as you stood in front of your new school, you felt on top of the world. You’d managed to make it through the interview, the school boards’ panel being very accommodating toward your difficulties with speech. It seemed that reading of your dreams really did seem to have some positive affect on people as they’d admitted you with very little debate on the subject. Head held head and heart full of hope, there you stood, you walked towards the path towards your parents acceptance. Not even as everything began to spin and you felt the world begin to fall away from you did you feel that anything could possibly go wrong. You just had to make your parents proud. If you could just live up to their expectations… you just… had to… live.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you wake up.

_Honestly, when you'd started your first day by colliding into an upperclassman, his name had been Nagito if you recalled correctly, and sent both your books flying you had been ready to cry then and there. Not even five minutes had passed and you were already messing up. How were you ever going to prove yourself to your parents at this rate?_

_Thankfully, Nagito had been very kind about the situation, lightly chuckling and apologizing for you getting caught in the crossfire of his terrible luck before moving to help gather both of your things. You'd tried with all your might to tell him that it was your fault, not his. But, alas, your difficulties with speaking hadn't lessened with age. He'd been quick to notice your struggling to speak though and offered a kind smile._

_"No need to trouble yourself with worthless trash like me," he'd said, completely catching you off guard before holding out a pile of books and offering to help you up._

_You'd sputtered, trying to somehow convey to the self deprecating boy that the fault should lay with you and that if anyone was garbage, it was you. Finally accepting defeat in conveying with words, you'd quickly shook your head and waved your hands as if to deny his words while your face deepened in redness._ _Quirking his head, Nagito had frowned before letting out a soft, "Ah!" in realization and nodding with understanding. "Of course!" he'd smiled. "Me trying to help you up would only lead to more trouble! Such wonderful foresight! Oh, the hope of an ultimate truly is amazing!"_

_Kneeling down, Nagito had quickly grabbed and shaken your hand before finally introducing himself and then promptly turning to leave. Continuing on to himself about how truly amazing the incoming hope and talent of this year were already proving to be, he'd hurried away and left you to sit in utter bewilderment and terror to just what you'd gotten yourself into by enrolling in such a school._

* * *

Sleeping and giving way to your dreams was like a security blanket to you at this point. It brought a sense of warmth and comfort to your otherwise cold and struggling situation. Being able to escape the pain and loneliness of everyday life was something that nothing else could provide you with. So, you often found yourself falling asleep whenever time would allow for it.

But now, as you found yourself slowly coming to, something felt off. You were clearly waking up from a deep sleep, the loopy grogginess proof enough to know that. You seemed to be laying atop a desk though. That definitely wasn’t normal. As easily as you could fall asleep, you’d never allow yourself to do so in class. The fear of the punishment your reform school would reform school would implement for such a deed was more than enough of a motivation to deter you from making that mistake.

Along with that, you didn’t feel at all rested and your body was incredibly heavy. While it was often depressing to leave behind your dreamscapes each day, you were one to wake up feeling fairly awake and refreshed. This though… this felt more like you were coming out of anesthetic or some other sort of drug induced loss of consciousness. But that couldn’t be… you’d never done any sort of drugs. Nor had you ever had surgery or any other sort of thing that would constitute the use of an anesthetic.

Managing to open your eyes, you lifted your head and sluggishly looked around. Where were you? It looked enough like a classroom but it wasn’t one you’d ever attended a class in before. That wasn’t the only thing that seemed off about the room though… the windows looked to have large metal plates bolted over them. What the heck was this place?

Looking down, you found what looked to be a pamphlet of sorts. Picking it up, you quickly found that it was made of nothing more than a piece of paper someone could have grabbed from any old printer. Reading over it, you surmised that it was an orientation guide of sorts. The entire thing was hand drawn and hand written though, as though a child may have made it in an art class. Opening it, you found a crudely written message.

_“Hey there, new kid! The next semester is about to start. Starting today, this school will be your entire world.”_

New kid? What was that supposed to mean? You'd been attending the same school for- no wait! That wasn't right anymore, was it? No, things were finally taking a turn for the better with you parents!

A warm smile spread across your face as you recalled the recent events of the last few weeks. It'd been a long and difficult fifteen years in the making but things were going to be different now! You just had to make your parents proud and… live up to their expectations.

Smile fading, the pressure of such high expectations began to weigh down on you. You'd been a disappointment to your mother and father for a little over fifteen years… what was to say this would end differently. Sure, you held the title of an Ultimate now but… what could you really do with a talent, if you could truly even call it that, as abstract and and private as yours? It was only when people read about the dreams you'd had that you had any effect on those around you.

Truthfully, you still didn't even know how or why your dreams could have any effect on others in the first place. Maybe it was all a fluke… a mistake of epic proportions that was doomed to blow up in your face and send you crashing back down to the worthless bit of dirt your parents had helped you to so clearly see yourself as.

Shaking your head, you tightly gripped the pamphlet in your hands and looked up. You couldn't let yourself be defeated without even trying. You were going to fight and work yourself to the bone if that's what it took. You'd show them you were just as good as your brother, maybe even better. Then, and only then, you would receive a look of love from your parents. They'd truly be proud to call you theirs and offer the genuine affection you'd so desperately come to crave over the years.

With renewed determination at your side, you pushed past the heaviness that was trying so hard to send you back to sleep and stood up. You needed to figure out where you were. What had you been doing before ending up here though? You didn't remember walking into a classroom… but you did vaguely recall having been about to enter Hope's Peak. Maybe this was a part of the academy then? It stood to reason, being a classroom and all.

Though, the more you thought about that possibility, the less likely it seemed. The room was so… gloomy and felt like a cage to keep you trapped in. It seemed more like your old reform school or a prison than a school for the elite. Hardly worthy of being considered an environment to nurture the growing talents and future hope of the country. And, you could recall with absolute certainty that there hadn't been any windows that were covered, much less with metal plates, when you’d been looking up at the academy. There was no logical way that this could be the Hope's Peak Academy you'd been about to enter.

That left two possibilities that you could think of. One was that you'd been taken somewhere else that was probably modeled to look like Hope's Peak. It wasn't out of the question that you might be the target of a kidnapping. Your mother was a powerful politician, both your parents were well off, and you'd very much been in the public eye both when you were younger and in the last few days as your mother had toted you about, holding multiple press conferences to sing praises of your accomplishment to the press. 

Bringing you to a classroom though? It'd have been far easier to have thrown and locked you away in a dark room. Along with that, you weren't restrained in any way. Why would a kidnapper go to such lengths only to leave you with free mobility? And then there was the pamphlet making it seem like this was all supposed to be some sort of weird orientation game. None of it made sense.

The only other possibility you could come up with was that this was all a dream. But it didn't feel like any dream you'd ever had before. There was never a sense of weight to you while asleep. Nor did you ever find yourself so groggy and disoriented. And you’d never felt the need to question or think through things like this. In dreams, you'd always feel at peace and infallible. So, if you were just dreaming, why were you so uneasy and unsure? It just all felt… too real.

Raising your gaze to the clock that hung above the chalkboard, you noticed that it appeared to be about eight o’clock. Though, without being able to see outside it’d be impossible to tell if that referred to in the morning or night, much less the accuracy of the clock. Glancing around, you decided that you’d never get anywhere if you continued just sitting and pondering the possibilities. You’d have to venture forward and try to gain more information and context to your situation. 

Pushing back your chair, you stood up and made your way over to the classroom door with trepidation before hesitating as you stared at the door knob. Even if you did find someone who could help you come to understand what was going on, you wouldn’t have an easy time communicating with them. Your parents, having been adamant on you pushing past your speech related struggles, had never given the thought or time to investing in sign language lessons. Nobody at your reform school had even cared what you had to say or wanted to try communicating with you on a personal level either. So you’d always relied on writing to communicate when necessary. But, with your backpack nowhere in sight, you didn’t have writing utensils or, disregarding the pamphlet, paper to use.

Shaking your head, you grabbed the door knob. Worrying about such things wouldn’t do anything to help you. You’d just have to cross that bridge when you came to it. Drawing a deep breath, you turned the knob and peaked your head out to look around. The hallway was strange to say the least, bathed mostly in pink lighting other than two normally lit areas that stood both directly in front of you and at the far end of the hall. Looking up, you noticed a sign that appeared to denote the room you’d woken up in as classroom 1-B.

Doing your best to move quietly, you stepped outside and shut the door behind you. The normally lit area before you held nothing more than a sign reading, “ _Despair Hotel_ ,” and stairwell that led upstairs. A hotel in a school? Maybe it was like a dormitory hall? But why would anyone want to name something like that after despair? It made you uneasy to head up that direction at all. Maybe… you’d stick to this floor for now.

“Oh! Hey there! Do you-”

Whipping around, you let out a yelp and stumbled backward as you found yourself suddenly face-to-face with another person. Panicking, they quickly rushed forward and tried to catch you before you could fall. But, with you flailing about and fearfully trying to continue back away, all this led to was them getting pulled to the ground with you. Dazed, you both blinked a couple times before realizing that the other person was now on top of you.

Blushes erupting, they quickly scrambled off you and hurried to their feet as you sat up and covered your face in embarrassment. “S-sorry,” they said, offering a hand. “I didn’t mean to scare you!”

Slowly lowering your hands, you looked at the hand that was now patiently hovering before you and rose your gaze up to finally see just who you were dealing with. Blush deepening, you finally registered it was a boy with brown hair and eyes. Contrasting rather drastically with his stark blush, his features were soft and made it a bit difficult to tell if he was actually younger or around the same age as you. All in all, he was fairly cute despite his appearance not being all that unique.

Finally reaching out, you timidly took his hand and accepted his help. Once you were on your feet again, the boy offered an apologetic smile and, if even possible, you felt your blush worsen at how sweet his smile was. “Sorry about that again,” he said with an apologetic if not slightly awkward laugh before looking at you with a bit of worry. “Are you okay?”

You managed an embarrassed nod and quickly found yourself in disbelief as his smile brightened and somehow became even sweeter. You weren’t used to others smiling at you, much less with such a genuine sense of kindness exuding from them.

“That’s good, I’d feel terrible if you were hurt because of something I did! My name’s Makoto Naegi by the way. What’s yours?”

Opening your mouth, you tried with all of your might to respond but, as usual, nothing would come out. Arm reaching up, you wrapped it around your torso and grabbed your other arm as you lowered your embarrassed gaze to the ground. How were you supposed to get anywhere with your parents if you couldn’t even give your name to someone? Pathetic.

Furrowing his brows, Naegi looked at you with confusion. You looked so… defeated. Had he said something wrong? The last thing he wanted to have upset or offended you, especially right after startling you badly enough to make you fall. He needed to salvage this somehow.

"It's okay if you don't want to say," Naegi offered, tone gentle as he did his best to gauge the situation. "Maybe you can help me figure out what's going on though? I woke up in that classroom over there and have no idea how I got there."

Looking up, you stared at Naegi with a mixture of regret and surprise. You really hoped that you hadn't come off as standoffish when failing to respond to his question, the idea of making him feel bad causing your stomach twist with guilt. But then there was his other question. Could it really be true that he was in the same boat as you?

It was a comforting thought in a way, not being alone in your confusion and feeling of being utterly lost. But you were also unsure if you could truly trust Naegi. If this was some weird, elaborate scheme to extort money or power from you parents, this could very well be a ploy to make you lower your guard. And, as weirdly convoluted a plan as that would be, you couldn't shake the fear of the possibility.

Staring at Naegi with uncertainty, you contemplated what you should do. Just standing and worrying about what ifs certainly wouldn't get either of you anywhere. Maybe if you just kept your guard up? But how were you even supposed to communicate with him in the first place?

Naegi looked at you, worried as to why you suddenly looked so scared and upset. Clearly, you weren't the best at hiding what you were feeling and there was obviously something incredibly heavy that was weighing on you. He might have assumed that you were just shy or had a hard time being around others if it hadn't been for your state seeming to worsen with each question. Honestly, it was beginning to feel almost like he had kicked an already frightened puppy. 

"You're sure you're okay?" Naegi asked earnestly, gently reaching out to put a hand on your shoulder only for you to flinch away. Pulling back, he hesitated before adding, "I'm not going to hurt you… if that's what you're worried about…"

Why was Naegi, a total stranger, being so nice to you? Nobody was ever nice to you. Over the years, your parents had made it abundantly clear that you didn't deserve such a courtesy with how much of failure you were. And everybody else had seemed to be in agreement with that sentiment. From adults treating you as nothing more than nuisance no matter what you did, to those around your own age beating you down both physically and verbally; everyone had made it obvious that you weren't worth a shred of kindness.

The only thing you'd ever been able to gleam from such treatment was that, truly, everyone else was better than you and that, for anyone to even consider associating with you in a positive light, you'd have to earn their respect. You'd only earn kindness by showing that you could at least be on par with others, that just seemed to be a rule of life for you. 

But you hadn't done anything to earn this treatment from Naegi. If anything, you'd only proven how completely pathetic you were. And yet there was such genuine concern in his eyes for you as he patiently waited for your response. You just couldn't understand what could possibly be going through his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, obviously I had to include Nagito in the beginning flashback. #1 hope fanboi will always be true best boi in my heart lmao.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you meet the Ultimates.

_If you’d had to pick one word to describe your new classmates, you'd probably have been stuck between eclectic and chaotic. You'd been somewhat expectant of the first term to be fairly applicable before even setting foot on campus. Hope's Peak was, after all, founded with the goal to foster talents of all types and had produced professionals in pretty much every field imaginable._

_What you hadn't been prepared for was to walk into your homeroom only to be sent flying backwards. True, it hadn't exactly been on purpose since the student who'd collided with you had already been soaring towards a wall. But, nevertheless, this was the second time in less than ten minutes that you'd found yourself crashing down and onto the floor._

_"How the hell's that for school appropriate behavior!?" an angry voice had boomed as the force of the other person connected with you._

_Landing with a hard thud, all of your belongings had found themselves scattered about the hall yet again. Trying to piece together what could have possibly led to this, you couldn't help but wince at the weight of the person who'd been doing his best to stand back up._

_Furrowing his large black eyebrows, your assailant had begun brushing any potential dirt off of his white, military school-esque uniform before suddenly noticing you as you'd sat up. All at once, his stern expression cycled through an array of emotions. Surprise, shock, mortification, and finally ending in self-condemnation; he seemed to be going through quite the inner turmoil over his current situation. Not that you had managed to gleam that from his reaction._

_No, in your eyes the boy who'd run into you looked intensely angry and about ready to lay into you. In your mind, that was the only thing that could be about to happen. Nagito, who'd been shockingly kind to you even without considering the circumstances of your interaction, had been some sort of bizarre anomaly in the universe. There was no way this wouldn't end in scorn and verbal berating, at least._

_Before you could even try to choke out some sort of apology, the boy had begun fervently apologizing himself. He'd gone on and on about his shame for making such a poor first impression on you, how he couldn't begin to express his regret for having made you spill all of your school supplies, and that he hoped the two of you could start anew as classmates. Though, with how rapidly he was speaking, you hadn't been able to make out more than a couple words here or there. The only thing that really had clicked with you was that he was shouting and you now knew that enrolling in Hope's Peak had been a mistake._

_You were doomed to disappoint your parents from the get go. Trying for anything otherwise was a lost cause and, by being at this school, you were wasting everyone's time more than ever. How naive and selfish of you to have hoped otherwise._

* * *

It didn’t take terribly long for you to realize that you should’ve just stayed in the classroom. Sure, it had been scary not knowing where you were or how you’d gotten. And, yes, you'd have been unspeakably bored with no writing supplies at your disposal. But at least you wouldn't have had to go through the ordeal of trying and inevitably failing to introduce yourself to those who were supposed to be your fellow classmates at Hope's Peak.

It had taken a bit but Naegi had finally come to realize that what you more than made up for in physically emoting, you seemed to lack in the ability to vocally express yourself. Though, where others had historically scolded or bullied you for such a fact, he hadn't seemed to look down on you at all. If anything, he was embarrassedly apologetic that he hadn't caught on sooner. Although, despite his good intentions, this only led you to feel more confused to his character and withdraw more out of the fear that this all some ploy to bring your guard down before setting any true intentions into motion.

Offering another friendly smile, Naegi did his best to shrug off the awkward tension between the two of you and suggested that you stick together while trying to see if there was anyone else around who could help shed light on the situation. You weren't terribly keen on following him blindly but, with few remaining options, you gave a timid nod and followed after the friendly boy. And it wasn't long until you stumbled across others, coming face to face with a group of teenagers as you walked into the entrance hall.

There appeared to be fourteen people in the group, each strikingly unique in their own way. Upon first glance, most would've picked one or two of them out as more intimidating than the others. To you though, everyone was just another however many sessions of verbal abuse and bullying waiting for you to suffer through. Anxiety spiking at such thoughts, you began trying to shrink behind Naegi to avoid all the stares that were now trained upon the two of you. Though, with how short he was, it hadn’t done much good and only seemed to draw more attention to yourself rather than him.

It didn’t take long to realize that you were all new to Hope’s Peak, everyone quickly coming to the conclusion that you were likely all classmates. Though, this only led to the ever dreaded agony of introductions. Naegi was kind enough to take the lead on such an endeavor, allowing you to meekly follow behind him as he chatted and introduced both you and himself to each person.

First up was the Ultimate Pop Sensation, Sayaka Maizono. She was pretty, much more attractive than you could ever consider yourself. Fair skin and a cute smile... even her voice was pretty as she joked and giggled with Naegi. It was astounding to you how easily the two of them seemed to hit off, both realizing that they’d gone to the same school several years back. Withdrawing into yourself even more, you suddenly found that you were feeling even more inferior than usual.

Eventually, the two of you moved onto the next person. From one teen to teen to the next, you met each of your new classmates. Everyone was starkly unique, their own personality coming through to contrast with everyone else's. Some were more mellow than others but the vast majority of your peers had incredibly loud and eccentric personalities. You supposed you should count yourself lucky to have first run into Naegi and not someone like Owada, Fukawa, or Togami. Though, with Naegi having revealed his title to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, it was possible that it had been his luck to have brought the two of you together first. 

No… that'd imply meeting you would be lucky and that just couldn't be. Nothing about you was worth claiming any luck towards… unless it was bad luck? Now that was completely possible, seeing as how he was now stuck introducing both of you to everyone while you hid behind him almost as though he were a shield. A wave of shame washed over you as the realization of how entitled you were being in hoisting such a task upon him as well as acting so selfishly all the while. Not to mention how disrespectful you were being towards your classmate by cowering behind Naegi and avoiding eye contact with them. And yet, you were too scared to do anything else. _Ultimate failure… pathetic… hopeless_ … the words your parents had shouted at you so many times had never felt more appropriate.

All of these people were so talented and worthy of being at such an illustrious school. But you? You were a worthless failure who'd somehow bumbled your way in and barely stood any chance at getting to stay. You had no right to even be in the same room as an Ultimate and yet here you were. It was nauseatingly terrifying and you wished for nothing more than to be able to hide away before all of them could realize just how much of a sham you were. 

But you couldn't… you had to be strong and do your best. This was your one shot at having any sort of positive relationship with your parents… you couldn't just run away from that! Forcing your gaze up, your anxiety spiked as you came to notice just how close the Ultimate Martial Artist, Sakura Ogami, now was to you. A small whimper escaped you, unsure to what was happening as she quickly poked and prodded at you, having just finished the same ritual on Naegi.

Looking back with surprise, Naegi noticed that you looked close to tears yet also seemed somehow resigned to the physical breach of your personal space. Where you could’ve tried to distance yourself or moved to block any unwanted contact, your posture was suddenly limp and resigned. It was as though you were ready to fall to the ground and just take anything that might be thrown at you. You looked like such a… victim. What could have happened to make you so defenseless and passive? Naegi wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know the answer to such a question.

Stepping back, Sakura uttered a small apology for any discomfort she’d caused before disappointedly muttering that both you and Nagei lacked the proper muscle quality and mass to make for adequate sparring partners. Suffice to say, neither of you were all that heartbroken by this assessment, though your newfound resolve had been completely shattered amongst the fear and resignation brought on by the unexpected physical.

With introductions finally coming to end, everyone began discussing what could possibly be going on. It turned out that everyone had had similar experiences to you and Naegi in that they’d all passed out upon entering Hope’s Peak and then woke up in various areas of the school. Everyone also seemed to be missing all of their personal belongings. And then there was the fact that the metal plates bolted over every window were secured firmly enough that they wouldn’t even budge when Ogami had tried to remove one. 

Most concerning though was the metal hatch blocking the exit. It hadn’t been there when you’d arrived at Hope’s Peak and it didn’t look like it would be opening anytime soon. Not when there were, what appeared to be, machine guns hooked up to surveillance cameras and an alarm system. With a nervous pit forming in your stomach, your brows furrowed in concern. Was it really possible that you were all trapped with no memories as to how it happened? It seemed far-fetched and like something out of a book or movie. 

“Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know… crime or something?” the Ultimate Fashionista, Junko Enoshima, offered.

“What, like… a kidnapping?” the Ultimate Baseball Star, Leon Kuwata, asked with an anxious expression. “You think someone maybe grabbed us and hauled us off and we’re not actually at school?”

It was true that you’d had a similar thought right after waking up. That this couldn’t possibly be the Hope’s Peak Academy you’d been entering earlier this morning. And, with all of you being Ultimates, it was seeming like a more likely possibility than before. But still… why go to the trouble of making it look like a school? And why let everyone roam freely. It seemed awfully elaborate for a simple kidnapping.

“Come on, don’t think like that. Cheer up!” the Ultimate Clairvoyant, Yasuhiro Hagakure, offered. “I bet this is all just part of the school’s orientation procedure!” 

Orientation procedure? Something about that didn’t seem right. This would be an odd orientation to put students through. If anything, it felt more like a hazing might. But, again, it all came off as too overly elaborate for it to be that. But, on the other hand, who were you to question an Ultimate? 

Hagakure was here due to his talent and brilliance in the field of clairvoyance. He’d obviously have a keener intuition and be able to glean more insight to the given situation than you would. You had no right to doubt someone who was on such a higher level than you. Even if you were working to earn your parents’ acceptance, you needed to remember your place. And besides, the others seemed to be happy with the proposed theory.

“Oh… so you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?” the Ultimate Programmer, Chihiro Fujisaki, asked with a relieved expression.

“Huh. Well if that’s all it is, it’s nap time for me,” Kuwata huffed before flashing an embarrassed grin. “I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye.”

**_DING DONG, BING BONG._ **

Looking up, you noticed a monitor on the wall was now alight with static and a strange silhouette. It wasn’t human, that much was for sure. But you also couldn’t quite make out just what it was supposed to be. Whatever it was, it began speaking at that moment with the most upbeat and playful tone you’d ever heard. It sounded as though it was trying to come off as cutesy but also didn’t care one way or the other if it was grating to anyone in its vicinity. It was… unnerving.

“ _Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two!_ ” the cheery voice spoke over the loudspeakers. “ _This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then...! Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at... right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. ...That's all. I'll be waiting!_ ”

Everyone stood, frozen as they stared at the monitor. Entrance ceremony… so Hagakure had been right after all. But still… there was something about the voice that had been making the announcement. As anxious as you normally were, that voice sent you into a state of total unease. It felt somehow ominous despite how cheery it had been trying to be. But why? You just couldn’t put your finger on what it was about the voice that caused you such discomfort.

“...What. The. Hell was that just now?” Enoshima finally broke the silence.

“Well then,” Togami said, turning and walking away from everybody. “If you’ll excuse me…”

“H-hey! What, you’re just gonna head off like that?” Enoshima balked.

Though, despite the confusion and hesitance displayed by a fair few of you, it wasn’t long before Togami’s lead was followed by others. Before you knew it, about half of your peers had left. You wondered if you should follow them but something inside of you desperately begged you to not head towards the gym.

“This… this doesn’t seem right,” Maizono echoed your worries.

“Yea,” Enoshima agreed. “That announcement was totally weird.”

“Maybe, but staying here doesn’t mean we’ll be safe,” Kirigiri, the one person who hadn’t revealed their talent, countered. “Besides, aren’t you guys just a little bit curious to find out what’s going on around here?”

“If we do not move forward, we learn nothing,” Ogami solemnly agreed. “The only choice is to push ahead.”

As uneasy as it made you, it was a fair point to make. Nothing guaranteed your safety should you refuse to go to the gym and staying here would only result in all of your questions going unanswered.

“They said to go to the gym, right?” Naegi offered.

Everyone murmured in agreement, a few voicing their disbelief and confusion towards the situation. As everyone else headed towards the gym, you noticed Naegi lingering slightly as he took in the full sight of the hatch and all its preventative measures. Despite how hesitant you were to trust anyone, you felt the need to wait for him. He’d been so kind towards you so far. And the warm smile he offered you once he saw that you were waiting for him… it was the one thing that seemed to ease your nerves at that moment.

“Ah,” Naegi laughed awkwardly. “Sorry about that! I didn’t mean to keep you waiting… I still don’t know your name, do I? Or your talent for that matter…”

Letting out a thoughtful hum, Naegi pondered on this for a moment before grinning. “Once we’re done at the gym, let’s try to find a pencil and paper!” he said. “Then you can tell me your name and talent!”

Blushing, you averted your eyes. Why would Naegi even care what your talent was? Hadn’t you already more than proved to him just how utterly worthless you were? And, even if that wasn’t the case, how would he react to finding out you had such a pointless and fake talent? Would he laugh? Or maybe he’d try to act like it was an alright talent in an undeserved attempt to spare your feelings, seeing as he was so nice and all. Either way, he’d have no choice but to see how much time he was wasting in being kind to you.

“Th-that is if you want to!” Naegi quickly backpedaled, immediately picking up on your withdrawal from him. “Let’s just find something for you to write with and go from there!”

As confusing as Naegi was to you, you were equally so to him. The constant fear and sadness in your eyes? The timid, hesitant nature that made you look like you were forever worried about making the wrong move? And the way you had reacted to Ogami’s poking and prodding? It was as though you were made of glass that was already cracked and splintered; like anything could shatter you at any moment. It hurt to see somebody so fragile and scared. And, worst of all, it felt as though he was constantly taking two steps back with every step forward. There had to be some way to help you feel at least a little less on edge...

Hesitant, Naegi reached out towards you and waited patiently. Looking up, you caught sight of his outstretched hand and stared with an unsure expression. Raising your gaze, you were met with a soft smile. It was confusing and foreign to you. But it was also comforting at the same time… just like the comfort that your dreams brought you. 

Trembling, you reached out and lightly grasped onto Naegi’s sleeve. You were, by no means, ready or good enough to accept such an offering. But you could let somebody lead you somewhere… right? Yes… you could follow him if he’d let you. 

Smile growing, Nagei gently began helping you towards the gym as you timidly held onto his sleeve. It wouldn’t have been anything special in any other circumstances. But it felt like a big deal to him at that moment, as though this might be a huge show of trust on your part. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, he felt a bit closer to you as the two of you walked together.

Reaching the gymnasium, you released your hold on the fabric and let your arm fall to your side. Being seen with you like that by the others… it would only make the others see Naegi as less. You wouldn’t do that to him, no matter how much security just holding onto his sleeve had brought you. Glancing back, his small frown escaped notice. What had he been thinking. Of course you’d be embarrassed to be seen like that by everyone else. So much for making you feel better.

Stepping into the gym, it suddenly hit you why the cheery voice on loudspeaker had felt so unsettling. It was reminiscent of all the times others had laughed or cheered others on as they’d bullied you. The joy they’d taken in your suffering… that’s what the glee in that voice had reminded you of. Enjoyment in someone else’s despair… could someone like that really run a school that was meant to foster the nation’s future hope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naegi is so wholesome and comforting to write, I can't even ;-;


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you find out how you can leave.

_There were so many different types of people at Hope's Peak Academy. Some were more eccentric than others. There were those who were more uptight while others preferred to be more laid back, if not entirely lackadaisical. And then there were those who were natural social butterflies to contrast with the more socially awkward or antisocial students. It made sense, seeming to be a natural side effect to drawing a student body from such a wide and eclectic pool. But it also made attending class and living on campus all the more terrifying for you._

_At reformatory school, you'd known what you were in for each day. People had been upfront about their bullying and you could count on being belittled and pushed around before classes had even started for the day. But here… there were so many variables to take into account. For example, not everyone even seemed interested in bullying or going off on you in the first place._

_Sure, you’d had those like Togami and Fukawa who were guaranteed to snap and glare at you. And there was Owada, who’d been quick to anger and wouldn’t hold back after passing that threshold. But then you’d had people like Ishimaru, who only yelled if he deemed your behavior to be ill fitted for a school environment. Or Ogami, who certainly looked terrifying but had otherwise been incredibly respectful to everyone and minded her own business. Enoshima and Celestia had probably been the most confusing to you; constantly making remarks that sounded like bullying but then playing it off to seem like you'd just been over thinking things, almost as though they’d been gaslighting you. But why gaslight in the first place when you’d already deserved whatever cruelty they dished out at you? None of it had made sense._

_And then there’d been the outliers. Those who’d been nice despite your knowing that you'd not earned their kindness. Naegi, Maizono, Asahina, and Fujisaki were prime examples of this. They were the type of people that had scared you the most. Despite their constant and consistent kindness, you'd known it was only a matter of time before they would realize how pointless their kindness to you had been. Eventually they'd see you for the pathetic failure you were. And that's when they'd strike. But, until then, you had no way of knowing just what they'd do when that time came. Thus, you were forced to live in constant fear of slipping up and disappointing them._

_You’d pondered upon all of this as your homeroom teacher droned. Maybe it was their way of asserting dominance, you’d wondered. Trying to make those beneath them forget about the constant pressure of giving their entire being to even scraping by… so that their failure would be all the more spectacular. What better way was there to show someone their place than to lower someone’s guard and then remind them at their weakest moment._

_Yes, that’d had to be it. There was no other possible reason that any of these people, who were so much better than you could ever even hope to be, would ever have been kind or patient with you. You wouldn’t allow them to fool you though. You’d had to live up to the ever increasing expectations that your parents had so constantly reminded you of in their weekly letters. You couldn’t let them down… you couldn’t be pushed to the side again._

_“____-chan!”_

_Snapping your head up, you’d jumped in fear and looked around with wide eyes. Who was it that you were going to be at the mercy of now? And, not that there had to be a reason but, what had you done to cross them without even realizing it? Wait… when had class ended? Heart sinking, you’d quickly realized you zoned out and missed the majority of the lecture. Yet another thing to add to the list of failures._

_“Are you okay?”_

_Flashing back to reality, you’d noticed that Naegi was in front of you with a concerned expression. Oh no, you’d caused him to worry? No... you’d had to remember that this had to be some ploy to get you to lower your guard. There was no way anyone would’ve actually cared or bothered to worry about you. Even if he was one the most genuine and kind seeming people you’d ever met. It all had to have been an act… it just had to be._

_Gulping, you’d meekly nodded as you tried to push down the shameful butterflies in your stomach. Though, this effort had all proved to be for naught when Naegi had smiled brightly in response. How had it been possible that someone could bring about such a warm and nervous feeling within you just by smiling? It had been unlike anything you’d ever experienced before._

_“That’s good!” Naegi chirped. “I was worried I’d done something to upset you!”_

_A direct hit to your heart. How could Naegi have even inferred such a thing? That you even had the right to be upset with him was an absurd concept. And even if you had, what in the world had he ever done to actually warrant such a feeling from you? Despite it having to be a front, he’d been nothing but kind and patient with you. Truly, he’d been a master at making himself seem like one of the purest beings to ever exist. How cruel could someone possibly be?_

* * *

Words could never come close to describing how confused and shocked you felt at what you were hearing. This… teddy bear…? No, he’d made it pretty clear he wasn’t a teddy bear. He was some sort of machine... a robot of exceedingly advanced technology whose name was Monokuma. But that wasn’t what really mattered then and there. What was most important at that moment was that Monokuma was saying that you were all trapped within the school and would all be staying here until you died.

No, none of that could be true. You had to think logically. This had to be some sort of trick. A fair amount of the students here were the children of well known figures, in not well known figures themselves. Nobody could kidnap that many high profile people without somebody noticing. The police would have had to have been notified of at least one person’s disappearance at this point if it was all true. But it wasn’t… it just couldn’t be!

“Oh, but you know… I guess I did forget to mention one thing,” Monokuma gasped. “There _is_ one way for you to leave the school…”

“R-really…?” Fukawa asked.

“As headmaster, I’ve crafted a **special clause** for those of you who would like to leave!” Monokuma cheerily announced. “I call it… the **Graduation Clause** ! Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the **Graduation Clause**!”

“What do you mean by, ‘ **disrupt the harmony** ’?” Togami asked.

“Puhuhu…” Monokuma giggled. “Well, you know… if one person were to **murder** another…”

“M-murder!?” Naegi exclaimed in disbelief.

“Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn’t matter!” Monokuma animatedly demonstrated the different methods on himself, making it hard to deny that his range of movement almost would’ve been impressive if it weren’t for the horrific topic he was presenting to everyone. “ **You must kill someone if you want to leave**. It’s as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible.”

M-murder… this bear wanted you to kill one of your peers? Your stomach churned at the very thought, your form beginning to slightly tremble as you wrapped your arms around yourself. Monokuma couldn’t be serious… could he? To take somebody else’s life… it was so wrong. You’d have to be a monster to purposefully and willingly go do such a thing. Not only that but, everyone else here had so much potential for their futures. You were hardly a speck on the radar, only wanting to succeed to the point of finally being granted the love and affection you so longed to have from your parents. Akin to the bottom of a totem pole, you were so beneath everyone else that it wasn’t even funny. 

And, even setting your morals, ethics, and every other worth driven factor aside, you _couldn’t_ kill somebody. You were practically raised as a human punching bag. Where most people could relate to the idea of fight or flight, your natural instinct to conflict was generally more akin to resign and accommodate. If anyone were to actually take such a horrendous proposal seriously, surely you would be deemed prime victim material.

“Puhuhu! I bet _that_ got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh?” Monokuma cruelly joked. “Like said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know… taking that **hope** and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of **despair**. And I just find that so… darn… exciting!”

“What the hell are you talking about!? Kuwata panicked. “To kill each other is… it’s!”

“To kill each other is to kill each other,” Monokuma said plainly. “I’m sure there’s a dictionary here somewhere if you need it.”

“We know what it means, that’s not the problem!” Asahina shouted. “Why do we have to kill each other!?”

“Yeah!” Yamada agreed. “Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!”

“...Blabbering?” Monokuma asked, suddenly taking on a much more serious and intimidating aura. “Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on You guys just don’t get it do you? ‘Let us go, let us go!’ You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over! Listen. From this moment on, this school is you life, you world. Got it?”

No… no, no NO! This wasn’t happening! You were going to die here? But this school was supposed to be the key to finally be accepted by your parents. It was supposed to be a new start to a better life! It just… it couldn’t be anything else… it had to be your new start! 

Hands trembling, you covered your ears in an attempt to block out any further lies Monokuma could try spewing out at you. You had to calm down. You had to behave like the perfect doll your parents had tried to mold you into. You had to meet the expectations they’d always set out for you! But the world just wouldn’t stop spinning… breathing was so hard… and you couldn’t stop trembling! 

Nobody else was having this issue, you were being ridiculous! **_Ultimate brat!_ ** Couldn’t you do even this one thing right? **_Ultimate waste of space!_ ** You would never earn your parents' love if you didn’t try harder! **_Ultimate failure!_ ** Why couldn’t you just-!

**_KABOOM!_ **

Eyes snapping open, you looked up and saw some remaining bits of fire flash out from overhead as the smell of gunpowder suddenly hit you. Even with your hands over your ears, you found that there was now a painful ringing in your ears and Monokuma was nowhere to be seen. Though, this pleasantry didn't last long as he quickly appeared again out of seemingly nowhere.

Lowering your head, you turned your terror stricken gaze to the floor as you tried to process and comprehend everything that was happening. None of this was real, it just couldn’t be. And, if it was, would somebody really stoop to murder? Would you truly die here? It wasn’t supposed to be like this… this school of hope. It was supposed to help you and… make everything better. But so far… it’d done nothing but the opposite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our statewide quarantine just got extended until, at least, May 4th. This means a few things for updates, mostly that they'll probably be coming a lot more often than they did for Hope's Struggle due to the excess of free time I now have. But I also can't promise a regular update schedule either because my depression and anxiety are keying up with everything that's going on.
> 
> Anywho... stay safe and healthy guys :)


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